Cowboys-Eagles Round 3 Now Only One That Matters
ARLINGTON (AP) ― Now the Dallas Cowboys have to figure out how to do it again. A week after shutting out Philadelphia to clinch the NFC East title and shaking some of their reputation for late-season lapses, the Cowboys (11-5) stay home for a Saturday night rematch against their division rival.
It will be the first playoff game in Jerry Jones' new $1.2 billion showplace stadium and a chance to end the 13-year postseason winless drought that is the longest in team history.
"This is when it all needs to come into place and unfold for us," tight end Jason Witten said. "All that other stuff is great ... But I really believe that we know what's at stake and this when we need to play big."
Two out of three won't be good enough for Dallas, which after beating Philadelphia (11-5) for the second time this season last Sunday got caps and T-shirts commemorating its division title.
"We've gotten a couple of those shirts and hats before," Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb said. "If you don't win this game, I don't think too many people are going to remember who won the NFC East."
The 24-0 loss last weekend kept Philadelphia, which had won six in a row, from clinching the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye. The Eagles instead are the No. 6 seed with no chance of a home playoff game.
Of course, Philadelphia made it to the NFC championship game as the No. 6 seed last year. And the Eagles have won their first game in seven consecutive postseason appearances since Andy Reid became coach and McNabb their quarterback in 1999. They have 10 playoff victories in that span, Dallas none.
But the Cowboys are rolling, not stumbling, into the playoffs this time.
For the first time since the 1996 season, the last time they won a playoff game and a year after their last Super Bowl, the Cowboys have a winning record in games played after Dec. 1.
The three-game winning streak came after consecutive losses to start December. But Dallas won 24-17 at high-scoring and undefeated New Orleans before the first consecutive shutouts in the team's 50-season history.
"Obviously you gain confidence from the success we've had," linebacker Keith Brooking said. "But that's over. This is a new season for us and we're looking at it that way. Obviously everything is at stake right now."
The Eagles certainly want a do-over after being held scoreless with a season-low 228 total yards Sunday. Philadelphia had scored a franchise-record 429 points and averaged 31 points during a six-game winning streak coming into last weekend.
"We definitely got embarrassed and we have to come back this week and make different arrangements," said Eagles Pro Bowl receiver DeSean Jackson, who made his feelings known in different Internet posts.
Jackson (63 catches for 1,167 yards and nine touchdowns) has only five catches for 76 yards with no scores in two games against Dallas, and Philadelphia has only one TD in 21 offensive drives. Rookie Jeremy Maclin, another big-play threat, has been held to six receptions for 91 yards.
McNabb overthrew Jackson on an early deep pass that could have tied Sunday's game and later fumbled away a low snap inside the 20. Jackson and Maclin both dropped passes.
"There were some missed opportunities, a lot of miscues," said McNabb, whose nine playoff victories are surpassed only by five Hall of Fame quarterbacks and Super Bowl champions Tom Brady and Brett Favre. "Now we have another opportunity. We just have to clean things up and just go out and play football."
Philadelphia-Dallas is one of three games this weekend that is a rematch from last week, but is the only one that is also the teams' third meeting of the season. There have been 78 other times when NFL teams met three times in a season, with only 18 teams winning each game, according to STATS LLC.
The Cowboys were in a similar situation two years ago in their last playoff game, and lost at home as the No. 1 seed to the New York Giants after sweeping the regular-season games. Eventual Super Bowl champion New York won after Tony Romo's fourth-down pass was intercepted in the end zone, a year after Romo botched the hold of a chip-shot field goal late in a one-point playoff loss at Seattle.
Romo, who has thrown a career-low nine interceptions in a record-setting passing season, said his 0-2 playoff record has "absolutely no bearing" on what's happening now and described himself as a "completely different player."
Cowboys coach Wade Phillips is 0-4 in the playoffs, his only loss with Dallas coming two years ago and he was on the wrong side of the "Music City Miracle" kickoff return 10 years ago when Tennessee beat Buffalo. Only Jim Mora (125) has more regular season victories than Phillips' 81 without winning a playoff game
The likelihood of Jones picking up Phillips' contract option for next season has been bolstered by the season-ending surge keyed by defense, for which he is his own coordinator. Beat Philadelphia for the third time in 10 weeks and there would almost certainly be no question about it.
"I'd rather be on our side of it. I'd rather be the team that won two games and just won the last one and playing at home," said Phillips, refusing to make things personal. "We've got a lot going for us, I believe."
Like playing in new Cowboys Stadium, the retractable roof stadium that hosts the Super Bowl next year. More than 100,000 people were there last week, and that surely will be repeated for the playoffs.
"I think feeling good about being in a venue like that would make you play better," Jones said.
Maybe even good enough to repeat what they did the last time they got a new home. The Cowboys won the first of their five Super Bowl championships at the end of the 1971 season, only weeks after moving into Texas Stadium.
It will be the first playoff game in Jerry Jones' new $1.2 billion showplace stadium and a chance to end the 13-year postseason winless drought that is the longest in team history.
"This is when it all needs to come into place and unfold for us," tight end Jason Witten said. "All that other stuff is great ... But I really believe that we know what's at stake and this when we need to play big."
Two out of three won't be good enough for Dallas, which after beating Philadelphia (11-5) for the second time this season last Sunday got caps and T-shirts commemorating its division title.
"We've gotten a couple of those shirts and hats before," Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb said. "If you don't win this game, I don't think too many people are going to remember who won the NFC East."
The 24-0 loss last weekend kept Philadelphia, which had won six in a row, from clinching the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye. The Eagles instead are the No. 6 seed with no chance of a home playoff game.
Of course, Philadelphia made it to the NFC championship game as the No. 6 seed last year. And the Eagles have won their first game in seven consecutive postseason appearances since Andy Reid became coach and McNabb their quarterback in 1999. They have 10 playoff victories in that span, Dallas none.
But the Cowboys are rolling, not stumbling, into the playoffs this time.
For the first time since the 1996 season, the last time they won a playoff game and a year after their last Super Bowl, the Cowboys have a winning record in games played after Dec. 1.
The three-game winning streak came after consecutive losses to start December. But Dallas won 24-17 at high-scoring and undefeated New Orleans before the first consecutive shutouts in the team's 50-season history.
"Obviously you gain confidence from the success we've had," linebacker Keith Brooking said. "But that's over. This is a new season for us and we're looking at it that way. Obviously everything is at stake right now."
The Eagles certainly want a do-over after being held scoreless with a season-low 228 total yards Sunday. Philadelphia had scored a franchise-record 429 points and averaged 31 points during a six-game winning streak coming into last weekend.
"We definitely got embarrassed and we have to come back this week and make different arrangements," said Eagles Pro Bowl receiver DeSean Jackson, who made his feelings known in different Internet posts.
Jackson (63 catches for 1,167 yards and nine touchdowns) has only five catches for 76 yards with no scores in two games against Dallas, and Philadelphia has only one TD in 21 offensive drives. Rookie Jeremy Maclin, another big-play threat, has been held to six receptions for 91 yards.
McNabb overthrew Jackson on an early deep pass that could have tied Sunday's game and later fumbled away a low snap inside the 20. Jackson and Maclin both dropped passes.
"There were some missed opportunities, a lot of miscues," said McNabb, whose nine playoff victories are surpassed only by five Hall of Fame quarterbacks and Super Bowl champions Tom Brady and Brett Favre. "Now we have another opportunity. We just have to clean things up and just go out and play football."
Philadelphia-Dallas is one of three games this weekend that is a rematch from last week, but is the only one that is also the teams' third meeting of the season. There have been 78 other times when NFL teams met three times in a season, with only 18 teams winning each game, according to STATS LLC.
The Cowboys were in a similar situation two years ago in their last playoff game, and lost at home as the No. 1 seed to the New York Giants after sweeping the regular-season games. Eventual Super Bowl champion New York won after Tony Romo's fourth-down pass was intercepted in the end zone, a year after Romo botched the hold of a chip-shot field goal late in a one-point playoff loss at Seattle.
Romo, who has thrown a career-low nine interceptions in a record-setting passing season, said his 0-2 playoff record has "absolutely no bearing" on what's happening now and described himself as a "completely different player."
Cowboys coach Wade Phillips is 0-4 in the playoffs, his only loss with Dallas coming two years ago and he was on the wrong side of the "Music City Miracle" kickoff return 10 years ago when Tennessee beat Buffalo. Only Jim Mora (125) has more regular season victories than Phillips' 81 without winning a playoff game
The likelihood of Jones picking up Phillips' contract option for next season has been bolstered by the season-ending surge keyed by defense, for which he is his own coordinator. Beat Philadelphia for the third time in 10 weeks and there would almost certainly be no question about it.
"I'd rather be on our side of it. I'd rather be the team that won two games and just won the last one and playing at home," said Phillips, refusing to make things personal. "We've got a lot going for us, I believe."
Like playing in new Cowboys Stadium, the retractable roof stadium that hosts the Super Bowl next year. More than 100,000 people were there last week, and that surely will be repeated for the playoffs.
"I think feeling good about being in a venue like that would make you play better," Jones said.
Maybe even good enough to repeat what they did the last time they got a new home. The Cowboys won the first of their five Super Bowl championships at the end of the 1971 season, only weeks after moving into Texas Stadium.
posted by The Gryphon at 7:59 PM
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